Okay time for an update on things! First, the decorating has begun!

Before and After Weeding and Clipping

With the Lights

On Friday I finally tackled the front yard. I weeded it once this summer, but all the rain we got just made them grow back. It was a disaster, I had to weed, cut, then hedge the bushes by hand with little hand-held shears, as that’s all we had. Once the frosts begin hitting and killing the weeds, I’m gunna go pull and cut. Then I swear to holy baby Jesus that next spring we are hiring a landscaper to come in and just get it looking nice. I figure if they start it off, I can keep it up. Plus doing all that trimming and weeding just killed me, I was clogged up all night long!

I also had to restring all the lights on the bushes. The past year they sat there, and with the new growth, well they were buried in the bushes. Ripping them out I’m sure didn’t help my allergies either. Once I got them done, that’s when I quit as it was getting dark. They should be arranged a little more nicely, but once I cover the bushes with cobwebs it will look way better. John recently got purple lights, so I might try and mix a few of those in.

2008, Alien Mask From New Costume

This of course is what it looked like last year, and that layout was just built upon the year before. This year I wanna try and change things around a bit. Unfortunately half the porch is uncovered, so that limits what I can put in certain areas of the porch. The wind picks up this time of year, so that has to be thought of too. I bought only a few new things, I had to watch the money. I got 2 new tombstones, but will probably pick up a few more as they are cheap. This is to expand the graveyard, as well as the fact some of the older ones are on their last leg. I have to find bigger yard spikes to keep them firmly in the ground, the ones they give you are crap. Last year I had to use wire hangers (gasp!) and rocks to keep them in place. A trip to Home Depot will be needed for heavy duty wire I think. I got a zombie mask to make another zombie scarecrow, probably just another half-one to put in the grave yard. My most fun purchase was this alien costume for kids. I’m either stuffing it and putting on the porch somehow, or seeing if I can possibly hang it in the attic window. If I can do the later, I’ll put a green strobing light in the attic instead of the usual red.

I think I’m gunna attempt this year to move Jason in front of the door, put the large ghost to the left of the porch and the spiderweb on the open right side. I also want to see if I can hang the bag-o-bones up on the spiderweb like a human victim trapped in the web. I’ve wanted to do this for years, but never felt like taking the time to lay it out and really tie the bones on good. Again the wind is gunna be the problem.

Let’s see, what else is going on? Well I’m in Virginia as I have my appointment Monday with the dentist to get my permanent crown put on. Oh and yes, I did swallow the temp one, like a week ago. I was eating chicken and noticed it was suddenly gone. It’s in our cesspool by now I guess. Man I thought my tooth, well what’s left of it, was sensitive with that thing on. Let’s just say it’s been a fun week of wincing without it!

John’s sleep study is over. Someone asked in the shoutbox, he was diagnosed with a mild sleep apnea, but nothing life threatening. They are going to give him some stupid contraption to wear to bed to see if it helps him feel more rested in the mornings. My opinion remains the same though, you work 12+ hours a day 7 days a week, your gunna be tired no matter what. I’m still of the opinion that has to change, cause the older he gets, the worse on his health it will be.

Anyways, I’m now off to TRY my best to focus and finish editing my half of this article that is due in this week for publication. Well it’s due to the organizer of all the articles in a complication, he’s turning them in sometime later next month. Yeah I have a feeling we’ll be turning it in a week late though 🙂